Reclining chair



Jan. 31, 1933. A. A. GRINNELL 1,896,048

RECLINING CHAIR Filed Aug. 4, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 31, 1933.

A. A. GRINNELL 'RECLINING CHAIR Filed Aug. 4, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IPatented Jan. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT A. GRINNELD,OF IEDIN A, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB' TO LE GRAND S. WHEDON, OF

' MEDINA, NEW YORK BECLINING CHAIR Application filed August 4, 1882.Serial No. 627,444.

This invention relates to adjustable chairs, and has particularreference to chairs in which the relationship between the supportingframe, seat, and back may be varied to enable an occupant to comfortablyassume either an upright or reclining posture.

It is sometimes desirable to have a chair with the seat substantiallyhorizontal and the back only slightly inclined from an upright position,while at other times a chair with an appreciably inclined seat and ahigher, greatly inclined back is preferred. The present inventioncontemplates a chair construction in which the occupant may enjoy eithertype of chair support; in which the seat "and back, normally related toprovide for the occupant, may, upon forward movement of the seat, bemoved to lower the rear of the seat with respect to the front thereof,move the bottom portion of the back forwardly with respect to upperportion thereof, and

increase the effective height of the back. Means are also contemplatedfor automaticaL ly returning the seat and back' to normal position uponremoval of the occupants weight from the chair.

These and other objects and advantages, including those inherent in therelationships and arrangements of the component parts. will becomeapparent from a perusal of the following description of the typicalembodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a chair constructed in accordancewith the invention, with the padding and framework at one side thereofremoved, the full and dotted lines disclosing the chair in uprightposition, and the broken lines illustrating the chair in recliningposition;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showingactuating linkage on one side of the chair in rear elevation Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the linkage depicted in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one upper corner of the framework of thechair back';

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of Fig. 8 is a verticalsectional view through the frame of the chair, with the parts thereof inthe normal or upright position.

As shown in Fig. 1, the chair includes a fixed framework having frontlegs 11, connected by a horizontal front bar 12, and connected to rearupright members 13 by side bars 14, the lower portions 15 of the u rightmembers 13 being extended to rovi e rear legs and being connected by aack bar 16. The upper portions of the upright members are connected by ahorizontal back supporting bar 17 This fixed framework, if desired, maysupport upholstered arms 18 and back Wings 19, or other fixedappurtenances of the chair.

Connected to the fixed framework is an adjustable back 21, comprisingsuitable upholstery or the like mounted upon back frame members whichinclude substantially upright side rails 22 connected at their upperends by a top rail 23. As illustrated in Fig. 4, metal plates 25 may besecured to the side rails and to the top rail 23 to reinforce theirconnection. The top rail 23 projects rearwardly to overlie the backsupporting bar 17 of the fixed framework to provide an articulatedconnection or pivot 48 between the back and the fixed framework.Upholstery cloth or other suitable means may be utilized to preventdisplacement of the top rail from the supporting bar 17. y

A chair seat 27, of any suitable type, in cludes a supporting frameworkhaving side rails 28 connected by a back rail 29. The lower frontportions of side rails 28, as shown in Fig. 5, preferably are of V-formfor seating upon guide rollers 31 journalled in brackets 32 which arecarried by the front bar 12 of the fixed frame. Rigidly secured. to eachof the side rails 28, and forminga continuation of the seat, is an arm34 which is pivbroken lines.

' oted at its upper end to a link 35 as indicated at 36. The links 35are pivotally connected at their lower ends to rear portions of thefixed frame side bars 14, the pivot connections being indicated bynumerals 37 As illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1, the links 35 arenormally substantially upright but may move in a counter-clockwisedirection about pivots 37 to move the pivot point 36 forwardly anddownwardly to the position indicated by Such movement lowers the rearportion of seat 27 and moves the seat forwardly on rollers 31.

Secured to each side rail 22 of the back 21 is an angle bracket 38,pivoted at 39 to one end of a link 40, the latter being pivoted at 41,at its opposite end, to the arm 34 which is a fixed part of the seat.One or more springs 42 connect the seat and fixed framework, normallytending to retain the seat in its rearward position depicted in fulllines in Fig. 1. As illustrated one such spring 42 may be connected toeach end of the back rail 29 of the seat and to the back bar 16 of thefixed frame. A bumper 43 may be attached to each side rail 22 of theback 21 for abutment with the back bar 16, to limit rearward movement ofthe seat and back. The movement may also be limited by the front rail 30of the seat abutting the front bar 12 of the fixed framework as shown inFig. 1.

Normally the chair will be in the position depicted in full lines inFig. 1 with the seat 27 substantially horizontal and the back inclinedonly slightly, in order to provide substantially upright support for anoccupant. In this position the links 35 are so nearly upright that theweight of the back and tension of springs 43. which urge clockwisemovement of the links about pivots 37 as the device is viewed in Fig. 1,will entirely counter-balance the occupants weight, which will urgecounter-clockwise movement of the links 35.

When the occupant desires a reclining support, he may urge the seatforwardly a small degree which will increase the inclination of thelinks 35 from the vertical, whereupon the downward component of force atpivots 36, due to the weight of the seat and the occupant, will move thelinks 35 in a counterclockwise direction, lowering the rear of the seat27 and moving it forwardly on rollers 31, to the broken line position ofFig. 1. Simultaneously the link 40 will be carried forwardly, moving thebottom of the back 21 forwardly to the broken line position. In thelatter, the center line between pivots 39 and 41 of link 40 is insubstantial alignment with the pivot at the upper portion of the back,indicated at 48, the reason being that the rear portion of the seat, inthe reclining position, is supported from pivots 41 by links 40 and siderails 22 of the back. the latter in turn receiving support from the bar17 of the fixed frame through the medium of cross member 23 orconnection reinforcing plates 25.

With the seat and back in the reclining position depicted in brokenlines in Fig. 1, the effective height or length of the back is greatlyincreased, both by reason of the drop of the rear of the seat and byreason of the elevation of lower portion of the back brought about byits clockwise movement about the pivot 48. When the occupant leaves thechair or relieves the seat of his weight, the springs 42 willautomatically return the seat and back to normal, upright posit-ion.This action will be relatively slow. retarded by the friction of therollers and link mechanism and by the inertia of the seat and back, sothat the impact of stops 43 with back bar 16 will be slight.

It will be understood that the inclination and lengths of the variousparts of the linkage and the length and strength of the springs may bevaried, depending upon the type of chair, the desired inclination ofseat and back, the weights of the component parts of the chair, andother considerations. For example, it may be desirable to dispose links35 at an absolute vertical, or even a rearwardly inclined position, whenin normal position, to necessitate a greater forward urge upon the seatby the occupant in order to cause the chair to assume the recliningposition.

The roller means at the front of the chair may also be modified or othermeans substituted for them since their sole function is to guide andsupport the seat for forward movement. For example, a slide mechanismhinged to the front of the seat may be substituted, or as shown in Fig.6, fiat rollers 31 supported by brackets 32' may be supplemented byrollers 51, mounted for movement about substantially vertical axes bybrackets 52 secured to side bars 14, the rollers 51, one at each side ofthe chair, preventing lateral movements of the seat.

It will be understood that the term chair used herein and in theappended claims, is generic to analogous seating devices, as

those of elongated width adapted for two or more occupants. It will befurther understood that the chair described herein is merely one typicalembodiment of the inventive principles involved, which may be employedin chairs having other structural characteristics' and arrangements ofparts, all within the purview of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a chair, a frame having rollers at each side at the front thereof,a seat having side rails with the front portions thereof supported onsaid rollers, an arm rigidly con nected to the rear of each of said siderails of the seat and extending rearwardly and upwardly therefrom, apair of links pivoted one to the upper end of each arm, the opposite andlower end of each of said links bein pivotally connected to the frame, aback hinged at an upper portion thereof to the frame, a link pivoted toeach side of the back at a lower portion of the latter, the other end ofeach of said last mentioned links being pivoted to one of said arms, andspring means connecting the frame and seat for urging the latterrearwardly to such position that the first mentioned links aresubstantially upright.

2. In a chair, a frame having roller bearing means at the front portionthereof, a seat having a front portion supported on said roller bearingmeans for permitting movement of the seat from between rearward and aforward position with respect to the frame, a link pivoted at one end tothe rear of the seat and pivoted at its other end to the frame, saidlink being substantially upright with p the first mentioned end thereofuppermostwhen the seat is in said rearward position, and resilient meansassociated with the seat and frame for urging the seat to said rearwardposition. i

3. In a chair, the combination with a frame, of a seat movable forwardlyand rearwardly thereon, a back having an articulated connection at itsupper portion to the frame, and means connecting the seat and back andthe frame for moving the bottom of the back forwardly and for loweringthe rear of the seat as the seat moves forwardly, whereby the seat andback are inclined to a greater degree and the effective height of theback is increased as the seat moves forwardly, said means automaticallymoving the rear of the seat upwardly and the bottom of thebackrearwardly when the seat is returned to its rearward position.

4. In a chair, a frame, a seat pivoted at its rear to the upper end of anormally substantially upright link, the lower end of said link beingpivoted to said frame, a back pivoted at its upper end to said frame,and a flexible connection between the seat and a portion of the backbeneath the pivot of the back and frame, whereby as the seat movesforwardly the rear thereof will move downwardly and the lower end of theback will move forwardly and upwardly to increase the effective lengthof the back and the inclination thereof.

5. Ina chair, a frame, a seat mounted on the frame for movement forwardlwith respect to the frame from a normal position, means for lowering therear of the seat as the seat is moved forwardly, a back supported by theframe, and means for automatically moving the lower end of the backforwardly and upwardly as the seat is moved forwardly. I

6. In a chair; a frame, a seat and means for supporting it on the frameduring for- Ward and rearward movement of the seat 7. In a chair, aframe, a seat and means for supporting it on the frame for forward andrearward movement relative to the frame and for lowering the rearportion of the seat with respect to the front portion thereof as theseat is moved forwardly, a back and a supporting pivotal connectionbetween the up er end of the back and the frame, and a exible connectionbetween the seatand a lower portion of the back, whereby as the seat ismoved forwardly the lower portion of the back will be moved forwardlyand upwardly to increase the effective length and inclination thereof.

ALBERT A. GRINNELL.

